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Today's Opinions

It's funny how sometimes things never seem to work out the way I've planned but almost always end up better.

Like everyone in the area I had paid strict attention to the weather reports all week. I monitored each report on television, radio and the Internet. It was going to be bone-chilling cold and I was thinking all week that I was finally going to get the weekend I began longing for several months ago.

I get a kick out of puns. Good ones. Not the really sad attempts that are just plain dumb. I like the clever ones that you have to think about a bit.

So I thought this week, I’d share some of my favorites. Please...to enjoy.

• The famous general died and his ashes were to be taken to Arlington National Cemetery. All the air lines were booked and there were no other planes available. Someone came up with the idea of using a helicopter. It arrived at 5 a.m. The newspapers reported the incident with "the whirly bird gets the urn."

Lt. Jim Corder of the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office, with approval from Sheriff Morris Young, last week engaged in one of the most humane acts that has occurred in Gadsden County in many years. He was the catalyst behind getting 50 homeless people from Gadsden and Leon counties a warm place to sleep. These people, many of whom fell on hard times because they lost their jobs due to a sluggish economy, would not have had a warm place to lay their heads had the temporary (5 days only) shelter not been open.

Do you recall the outrage of the proposed coal plant for Taylor County several years ago? Much of the medical community and many Tallahasseans were outraged about the deadly health impacts and the global warming that would have resulted from its construction.

The plant was fortunately not constructed, but now Leon County residents face another health risk from the biomass plants proposed for nearby Gretna and other counties in North Florida and South Georgia.

I have many unanswered questions about the biomass incinerator (in the planning stages for the Gretna Industrial Park). Why has there been no public discussion of the hazards of such a facility in our county and city commission meetings? Why were the neighbors of the plant not notified? Why haven't they told us about the air pollution (smog, soot and acid rain) it will cause? Hadn’t you heard that burning biomass is dirtier than burning coal? Why haven’t they told us about the associated medical problems like heart disease, cancer, asthma a

December 21 has always been special to me as that is the birth date of my daddy, Henry William Rollins Sr.

The Dec. 21, 1939 headline on the front page of the Times read, "May one unavoidable tragedy help us avoid more tragedies." A week before this article was printed, 7-year-old Eugene Blackburn was hit and killed after darting out in front of an oncoming car on King Street.

Right about now, many people are still holding their heads and thinking, “Why, oh why did I _____ New Year’s Eve?” You can fill in the blank.

I’ve never quite understood that mentality. Why bring in a new year by doing things you’re just going to regret? Some would call it celebrating...I call it being irresponsible and just plain stupid. I don’t need a “boost” in order to enjoy myself, and I much prefer to remember my celebrations clearly.

Periodically I participate in a ride-along with an officer from law enforcement. It's something that reporters who cover crime do to get a better insight into what officers are facing and what perpetrators are doing.

There have been some changes in the kinds of calls officers are handling and in the types of people who allegedly commit these crimes.